


Breathing Ragged

by GalekhXigisi



Series: Ribs [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Injury, References to Depression, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Starvation, Trans Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 22:49:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18433721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalekhXigisi/pseuds/GalekhXigisi
Summary: This took me forever because I kept getting distracted. Also, I'm considering making a second part, but I don't really know yet.Please join my Discord server!https://discord.gg/eGkwayyCome and talk to me, too!!Tumblr: GalehkXigisi or Transheman (May not respond, Tumblr is a buggy bitch)Instagram: Todorokishootme or Assbutt666Discord: Shooketh Whomst#2679Twitter (SFW): DavenderLavTwitter (NSFW): DaveyWinchesterKik: AdrienSatan





	Breathing Ragged

_ The Séance [04] seems to be rather aloof to any and all things. He is calm and cold. He also seems to be detaching himself from his siblings and sleeping much less than the others. Sir Hargreeves says he has been getting an average of two point three hours of sleep on the best of nights. He is rational and reactionless. He no longer attempts to keep contact with his siblings unless they establish it. I fear his powers are harming him more than they are assisting, even if they make him heal much faster. He also seems to always come back with many wounds, no matter how clear he was the morning before.  _

 

_ Pogo _

 

_ Four seems to be floating much more commonly since the stunt with Five. I believe he has ceased his drug use. Pogo and Grace both seem to be worrying for him. THe mausoleum seems to be aiding in his training and powers significantly. It took a while, but he seems to be doing much better than Seven did on her training as a child. I suspect their powers will grow to be similar as Four subjects himself to actually attempting to train.  _

 

_ Sir Reginald Hargreeves _

 

_ Klaus barely eats anymore. He only seems to eat in small sections and complains that he simply is not hungry. He reacts slower than the other children unless in danger. His powers are slowly turning him into a mindless zombie, I believe. He requires I bandage his wounds daily. They are getting worse as the days go on and he is healing much slower than he used to. Klaus also seems to associate with Ben and Diego as least he possibly can. I am currently unsure if he is disassociating or if his powers are taking more of a mental strain that we initially thought. I worry for him.  _

 

_ Grace Hargreeves _

 

Klaus glares at the plate in front of him. He hasn’t touched it, hasn’t even attempted to for the entire hour and a half he’s been sitting here. It’s not that he doesn’t exactly want to eat it, he just… Yeah, he doesn’t want to eat it. If he does, he’ll vomit it up only hours away from now, when his father locks him in the mausoleum and the ghosts take their swings at him. Then, there will be bruises covering his stomach. Burns and scratches will be painted along his arms and legs, painting the porceline skin yucky colors. He wonders if his father’s realized what happens in there when he stays there for longer than an hour and the ghosts realize the power his sober self possesses. Their memories always seem to be refreshed by the next morning. With their strength, Klaus is thankful for it. Otherwise, he thinks he would have had an exploding organ by now. 

 

“Grace,” Reginald speaks up from the corner of the room, “if Number Four does not eat now, he may later, after his training. There is no rush currently.” Grace nods respectfully to the other. “Come, now, Four. We must get to your training before ten o’clock.” Klaus moves without a thought, standing and following his father. He was a shell of who he used to be, just as submissive a slave, beaten into harsh submission. Any sort of fight that Reginald even  _ thinks _ he sees means another Saturday lost to a full day of training. 

 

The mausoleum is as damp as it was the day before. Grace had cleaned up the vomit from yesterday or Pogo had. Klaus wasn’t sure anymore. He lets his father yell at him for a moment before slipping into the corner. He no longer fears the dead. He doesn’t fear the dark, either. He doesn’t fear the ghosts in the least. However, he doesn’t fight back against them. Without the drugs to numb him, there was nothing to stop them from going full force on him. He could no longer subdue their screams from his mind. His ears had bleed more than once from their continuous fighting. 

 

“You will have thirteen hours in the mausoleum today. It seems to be helping you with your powers incredibly.” Sir Hargreeves watches with a trained eye as Pogo shuts the door, sealing it shut with a concerned look passed towards the other. “I believe that there will be a breakthrough with him today, Pogo.” The other wants to chime that  _ breakdown  _ would be a much more likely outcome, but he keeps his mouth shut in favor of not saying anything at all. 

 

Thirteen hours later, they open it up to find Klaus laying on the ground. He’s near lifeless, but awake and breathing. His breathing is hoarse sounds much more like painful wheezing than anything. Pogo moves quickly to inspect the teenager on the ground. He quickly reports, “I believe he has multiple ribs broken, Sir Hargreeves. One of them seems to even be shattered. There is the possibility that a shard may have pierced his lung.” 

 

“Not a breakthrough, but not the worst outcome. Pogo, get him to Grace immediately I must make note of this discovery.” Reginald turns starkly, not caring for Klaus’ sudden whimper. He stares at his father’s back. The oldest just ignores him and moves on. “Make sure she gets a feeding tube on him as well. We cannot have him starving to death, now can we?” 

 

Pogo is quick to chime back, “No, Sir.” He doesn’t seem to share Hargreeves’ excitement as he moves to tend to the immobile boy. Tears slide down the teenager’s cheeks, leaking onto the concrete as he whimpers once again. As it seems, near silent cries are the only thing leaving him. Klaus’ eyes dart around in panic. “My boy, I think you are going into shock if you are not already there. I am going to do my best to move you from this position the least I can.” 

  
  


_ Number Four seems to be able to physically summon ghosts. He has yet to control them. If his powers become anything similar to his sister’s, I fear we will have to subdue his powers as well. His powers are limitless, as were Number Sevens’. I fear that he will cause the end of all time if she does not. Perhaps they both must be isolated. Four seems to have started the process already. _

 

_ Sir Reginald Hargreeves _

 

_ Klaus was in shock, a severe case that I have not seen from any of the medical book nor reports I am programmed with. I am surprised he even lasted as long as he did. It was a miracle. He was legally dead for more than twenty minutes. I feared we would lose him, though he seemed to come back and be just fine. He didn’t respond to the feeding tube. Instead, when he was finished, he went to bed and went to sleep. He no longer sleeps in Diego, Ben, or Vanya’s rooms. He has disconnected himself from everyone as much as he possibly can.  _

 

_ Grace Hargreeves _

 

_ The Séance [04] no longer responds to his siblings. His responses are limited. He had no reaction to being told he broke multiple ribs and required surgery to reconstruct two. He sleeps more than he interacts with anyone. He hasn’t even spoken with either of his siblings in two days.  _

 

_ Pogo _

 

“Klaus,” Ben mumbles softly as he slips into his brother’s room. He frowns as he looks at the fairy lights that are shut off. Klaus never shut off his fairy lights,  _ ever. _ “Are you awake?” There’s a tired hum after a moment. “Can Diego and I sleep in here tonight? My room caught on fire and Diego’s room smells because Five teleported a box of raw fish after he pissed him off today.” 

 

There’s a pause before the noise of shuffling from the bed. There’s a quiet, “My ribs are broken at the moment, but yeah, you all can. Turn on the Christmas lights, too, if you guys want.” The lights flick on, displaying in his two brothers looking incredibly worried. He hums. “What’s wrong?” 

 

Diego’s eyes scan over Klaus, examining the other. Klaus’ shirt is discarded in favor of bandages wrapped around his chest. Diego doesn’t hesitate to ask, “What the fu-u-uck happen-ened to you, Klaus?” He moves to the bed, moving to sit on the side of the bed. Ben shuts the door as he moves to sit beside the two. 

 

Klaus frowns. He stares at the two for a moment before attempting to even reply. He opens his mouth before closing it again. He repeats it a time or two more before he just hums and shrugs softly. “I was never sober for a reason. After making you physical,” he points to Ben, “everything’s just been getting worse.” He shrugs again and lays down. “I can’t really do anything about it.” 

 

“What’s going on right now,” Ben asks. 

 

Klaus hums again. “Well, at the  _ exact _ moment, a woman with her body cut into pieces and crudely stitched back together is screaming that I’m not a boy, so.” His words are plain and bored, eyes focused on the ceiling. “I’m not exactly sure what to do about it. You know just as well as I do that I can’t do anything about it.” 

 

Ben nods with a frown. “I know, Klaus.” 

 

“How’s your breathing?” 

 

Klaus shrugs at Diego’s question. “I can’t really feel much, honestly. Mom and Pogo both have me on so much shit right now. It’s just pain killers, but still.” The Séance presses his forehead against Ben’s shoulder. “I’ve been super distant lately. Sorry about that. Dad has me training pretty hard.” 

 

“How are they training you?” 

 

Klaus tenses up beneath Diego’s gentle voice. No matter what he attempts to do to keep the other calm, it doesn’t seem to work. He pulls away from the other two. Ben doesn’t know. Klaus always convinced him to leave whenever training was edged on. Diego had no possible way to know with Klaus having always been so secretive about it. Eventually, though, he does cave. “Dad, he, uh… He locks me in a mausoleum with angry ghosts most of the day. The ghosts are always angry and ready to burn off steam. As soon as they realize they can actually touch me and I can’t get them to stop, they just… go for it.” He pulls his arms out of the blankets that had been wrapped around them, revealing what looked more like self-inflicted scars that ones caused by angry ghosts. Bruises and burns littered his body as well. “They always heal within a few days, though, so it’s fine.” 

 

Ben shakes his head, eyes wide and mouth open with disbelief. Diego holds onto his left wrist, inspecting the scars underneath the markings. “That’s not okay, Klaus.” He feels bad for speaking as loud as he had, especially as Klaus flinches. “Sorry. But that really  _ isn’t _ okay. Does he just send a bunch of angry ghosts at you? Are they Cha-Cha and Hazel’s ghosts type of angry?” 

 

“Worse. Considering that they shattered two of my ribs and broke a broke the rest of my ribs, I think, then you can decide. They’re really not that happy with me, or really anyone else.” 

 

Diego’s brows knit together as he drops Klaus’ wrist. “Why didn’t you tell any of us? We could’ve helped you, just like we’ve been helping Vanya.” 

 

Klaus shakes his head. “We’ve been back for a month now. I’m even more distant than when I was younger and none of you have even attempted to say anything. I’ve got a lot of ghosts that monitor the house and report back every single time I’m mentioned, specifically being a ghost named John that’s actually super nice. You’d love him, Ben.” He waves it off. “What happened the first time I tried to tell the family I was seeing Bens’ ghost? You all yelled at me until I was crying and didn’t even care. What about when Five came back and you took to believing him instantly but told me to fuck off when I said Ben saved us? You believed Five, someone who had been gone for years and preached of the end of the world. But none of you could believe me when I said I was actively talking to Ben, even though I literally  _ talk to the dead. _ So, what’s that all about?” 

 

Diego’s lips come out in a kiss-like pucker, a brow raised as his head lulls from side to side. “Yeah, you’re right. But now Ben is back and proof, too. We all believe you now.” 

 

“If I came to you before I got these injuries and told you a ghost punched me in the gut, would you believe me?” 

 

Both of Diego’s brows raised. His lips are only a tad bit puckered. “We can tell the others in the morning, okay? And then we can find out what to do about it.” 

 

The other two in the room manage to nod. Ben slips down in the middle of the bed, Diego on the outside. The three move to get situated. Limbs tangled messily as they get comfortable. For now, the issue at hand can wait. They had more time now.  

**Author's Note:**

> This took me forever because I kept getting distracted. Also, I'm considering making a second part, but I don't really know yet. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Please join my Discord server!  
> https://discord.gg/eGkwayy
> 
>  
> 
> Come and talk to me, too!!
> 
> Tumblr: GalehkXigisi or Transheman (May not respond, Tumblr is a buggy bitch)
> 
> Instagram: Todorokishootme or Assbutt666
> 
> Discord: Shooketh Whomst#2679
> 
> Twitter (SFW): DavenderLav
> 
> Twitter (NSFW): DaveyWinchester
> 
> Kik: AdrienSatan


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